Dec 31 (Reuters) - Most Democratic Republic of Congo fans sang, cheered and played drums as their team secured a place in the Africa Cup of Nations last 16 with a 3-0 win over Botswana on Tuesday, but one supporter remained motionless throughout the game.
Michel Kuka Mboladinga, dressed smartly in jacket and tie and looking very like his country's first Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba, has stood still on top of a makeshift podium at every DR Congo group match in tribute to the politician who was assassinated in 1961.
Nicknamed "Lumumba" because of his tribute act, Kuka Mboladinga sets up his podium in the stands at the start of every game, and raises his arm to strike a pose similar to one held by Lumumba in a statue of him in his country's capital Kinshasa.
His resolve was tested when DR Congo's first group game against Benin on December 23 lasted almost 115 minutes due to time added on, but he held his position until the final whistle and will get at least one more chance to do it when his team play Algeria in the next round.
(Reporting by Chiranjit Ojha in Bengaluru, editing by Ed Osmond)
